


Robin hood

by RussetStarlight



Category: Furry (Fandom), Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 10:46:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15639171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RussetStarlight/pseuds/RussetStarlight
Summary: Is the con artist nick wilde really a con artist? Or is his greatest con, making someone believe he's a con artist?





	1. Robin Hood and Maid Maryann

Chapter 1: Robin Hood And Maid Marianne

Robin Hood and little John ran from a hail of arrows as prince John's soldiers attempted to take down the thief and his partner.

The made it into the thick forest and hid behind trees as the sound of arrows hitting the thick trees told them...

"... They're close little John. I think this time, we bit off more then we can chew..." Panted the fox while dropping the bag of gold and preparing his bow and arrow.

An arrow went just over little John's head, piercing his hat against a nearby tree. The bear looked back at his hat and laughed.

"My hat's off to you Robin. We've managed to stay one step ahead of the guards. Now..."

More arrows went past them as voices could be heard, inaudible but it was clear, the forest where they hid, would be surrounded soon.

"... How are we going to get out of this one oh great hero?"

Robin smirked and climbed the tree to get a better look.

"There, behind us little John. It's a caravan. We'll hide within them and while the guards attempt to find us, we'll make our escape...."

Nick watched as his father jumped down from the chair and landed on his paws and feet, quickly shot up and pretended to zig zag between the trees...

The fox and bear duo made their way through the trees, narrowly avoiding the arrows, until they made it to the caravan that had set up camp on the road behind the thick forest they had just hidden in.

They ran into a tent where a crow dressed in a long black rob, stood with her back to the duo, facing some sort of glowing object.

"Wait, daddy! Crows aren't smart. They aren't mammals...are they?"

The tall red fox turned to his young son and smiled.

"Every animal is smart Nicky. Just some choose not to talk. They focus instead...."

Before he could finish, another fox came into the room and nick could see, his mother's belly was big enough to be a chair for him to sit on.

"Mommy!"

"Marianne, is it that time already?"

"Robin, you doof, you'll be in here all night if I don't say something."

His parents came over to his bed and kissed little Nick Goodnight. With the lights out, only the gentle glow of the blue nightlight illuminated Nick's room and he soon found himself floating towards an ocean of dreams....

From the adjacent room, he could make out...

"Marrianne, have you seen... ?"

Nick could hear the sounds of things being tossed as his father searched frantically for something.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't take anymore night shifts. How are we supposed to raise a new baby with you out on every night?"

"It's only another month and the baby isn't do for another 2 months. I'm stuck until the new night shift crew is ready. Oh Marianne, you and the baby mean the world to me. I'd never leave you to face things alone."

"You better not or you'll be sleeping on the couch and the TV will be on the curb so you won't have any entertainment Mr wilde."

Would his mommy really punish his daddy?

His father's treasure was under the cub's pillow, reminding him with its smooth metal texture, that his father was always with him... even if he was running with the moon, as his father would fondly say.

"I give up! Don't throw the book at me." His father giggled and then...

...

...

...

Pov: dad...I sometimes wonder...

As water splashed his shirt and the giggles of the twins filled the bathroom, he thought about Robin hood...


	2. A drop of water makes....

He worked at a nearby computer repair shop, where his employer, usually treated him like he was a garbage truck and not a motherboard surgeon, as nick called himself. 

"here fireball!" the cayote grumbled angerly while handing young nick a bag of trash. Nick put his tools and respectfully took the trash bag from the old man's paw. 

He walked around the counter and headed to the back door, where a dumpster sat baking in the hot sun. 

He approached it in a hurry, hoping to get out of the sun asap.... When he heard a.... 

Pov: Is that... Scratching? 

He threw the bag into the dumpster and intended on looking for the source of the scratching sound when he heard a small yelp from inside the dumpster at the same time the bag landed. 

Pov: What the hell?! 

He peered into the dumpster and saw a... 

"I'm s-s-s-sorry. P-p-p-p-please don't hurt me..." 

A leopard coward against the back of the dumpster. He was wearing dirty clothes and looked no older then Nick.

Both teens locked eyes but neither spoke. Seconds passed but both where frozen, unsure of what to say... Until a loud and angry growl came from inside the building from where nick had come. 

Both teens turned towards the growl and then back to one another. 

"look..." nick tried keeping calm so not to spook the already frightened leopard. "you need to get out of here before my boss finds you. He's a grumpy old man as you can tell by his..." 

"hurry up wilde!" a voice cut nick off and he smiled at the leopard. 

"see what I mean? I gotta go. I'll be off work in an hour. If you want lunch, meet me by the payphone by the gas station."

The leopard didn't react. Nick figured he was too scared. He just ran back in, knowing his boss was about to have his furry head. 

After an hour of soldiering, screwing, baking, freezing and even some clean room work on a broken hard drive, nick found himself outside by the gas station pay phone. 

The leopard in the dumpster was knowhere to be found. 

Pov: Hmmm.... Guess he didn't trust me...oh well.... 

On his way home, he walked by a bus stop where a poster was being put up by an old rhino. 

From the corner of his eye, he caught a quick glimpse of donate your old...

Without stopping, he continued towards home. His feet hurt. His head hurt. 

Even my tail hurts.... How does my tail it? It just hangs around, not helping me with work at all.... Useless pile of... 

His fluffy old friend continued to ignore his frustration and hung around as usual...gathering dirt from the sidewalk like some kind of organic duster. 

Near his neighborhood, nick saw police cars race by, fallowed by an ambulance. 

Pov: Perhaps someone has heat stroke. It is pretty hot today... 

It was more then hot. His feet where hot enough to need an ice bath just to go down to uncomfortable. 

Within a few minutes, he came to his street where 2 police cars blocked off traffic as an ambulance stood with its back doors open. 

Trying not to appear like he was prying into someone else's business, young nick casually looked towards the scene as he walked by... Only to see... 

Pov: The leopard?! 

On a stretcher, the leopard he had seen in the dumpster earlier that day, was being taken to the ambulance. 

He became fixated on the medics as they frantically attached things nick knew nothing about, to body parts he never thought about. 

Pov: Probably giving him fluids while taking him to the hospital... 

There was an undescribable feeling in the fox's stomach and it wouldn't go away. He went to his door and nearly tripped over the flower pot that always covered the key his mom left hidden for them both to use. 

After unlocking the door, he put the key back under the flower pot and went to take a cold shower. 

As the rain of sweet sweet cold water washed away the sweat and heat, nick couldn't stop thinking of the leopard.

Pov: Donate your old... My old what? Donate to who? 

As he untangled the fur in his tail and worked up a good lather on his fluffy but dirty companion, he thought about his dad.

"Officer Robin wilde..." He recalled chief bogo's voice in his head. 

Robin Wilde... Robin hood...


	3. A Soul In Training

"it's my birthday and the mean old sheriff... He took my.... B-b-b-birthay present..." 

***

He was curled up in his father's arms, as the tall red fox, imitated the voice of a crying young rabbit.

***

"it's... N-n-n-not fair...." 

"oh don't you worry son...." said the old fox as he stood over the young rabbit. ".... Everything will be alight.... And happy birthday!" 

***

His father pretended to take off his disquise, to reveal the hero, Robin hood. 

"daddy... Why do you look like Robin hood?" 

His father smiled and with the reflection of the night light in his eyes, his father literally seamed to glow like an angel. 

"I am Robin hood, and you can be Robin hood to."

Little nick had turned 5 that day but he thought he had seen all there was to see of his birthday, until his father interrupted the story by lifting up his sleepy cub, and pulling out from behind the chair where they sat, a bow and arrow set. 

"is that for me? Did Robin hood get that for me?"

His father smiled and knodded. "Don't aim at your mother OK? She's feeding little Sarah and she'll have our heads."

"thanks daddy!" he grabbed the bow and ran off, only to return for the arrows to his father reminding him that his mother and baby sister weren't targets. 

***

Pov: Robin hood will find prince John before maid Marianne commands his return to the castle. 

Little nick quietly snuck around the living room as his father turned off the lights, allowing the moon to take center stage. 

"daddy, I'm trying find prince John and that mean old dirty sheriff."

"oooh, sorry kiddo. Here you go."

A lamp turned on and his father left for the kitchen instead. Nick watched as the fox opened the fridge door to grab something and that was when he lifted the bow. 

The arrow was pointing at his father's back when, the phone rang and the fox left the fridge for the phone that hung by the kitchen table. 

"hello.... Ya... This is Robin. What's...." 

He watched intently as his father knodded repeatedly, as if the fox was engaging in a 2 way conversation, with the actual phone itself. 

"thanks Jim, I'll take care of her."

"daddy? What's going on?" 

His father hung up the phone and knelt down on one knee, facing his tiny son with a serious look that nick had never seen.

"listen nick, a neighbor has had an emergency. She and her baby have nowhere to go. I'm going to bring her here. Can you help me?" 

"daddy, I'm tired. I want to play, not help."

His father frowned. "has Robin hood given up on helping? That's a shame. Your old daddy loves helping people. It makes daddy's heart feel good. Like having cookies... But even better. But you don't have to...." 

His father slowly got up and went to the master bedroom. Nick listened carefully as his father explained the situation to his mother. 

"Carrie? Yes, ofcourse bring her here Robin. We can't leave her alone in such a time."

"alright, I'm heading down."

His father ran out of the master bedroom and headed towards the hallway. Moments later, with a jacket on and flash light in hand, he out of the house. 

Nick felt something he couldn't explain. He felt.... He felt.... He couldn't comprehend why it felt wrong that he let his father go alone. He... 

... He had to help. Without telling his mother of his decision, he ran out of the house and fallowed the scent of his father. 

Little nick wilde fallowed the scent until he reached the neighbor 3 houses down. There, he heard the baby crying and his mother and Nick's own father fumbling in the dark, with just the flashlight as their guide. 

"daddy?!" he ran towards the door and pushed it open. There he saw the windows where broken, the roof had caved in and a tree was where the living room should have been. 

"nick!" his father's voice cut through the dark and the flashlight pointed down on him like some kind of alien beam, freezing the cub in place. He was too scared to move. 

"nick, son, what are you doing here? You can't just walk out on your...." 

"daddy...." the boy was nervous but also, determined. "I came to help! Like Robin hood. I want to feel like I've had cookies but better... I'm Robin hood."

A sigh of defeat was fallowed by a pride filled laugh. "my boy...you sure make daddy proud." 

Nick ran straight to the baby in the car seat. 

"can I help with the baby?" 

Robin looked at Carrie, who was in a state of shock. The fox was unable to respond.... Or unwilling, as if speaking, could result in something worse happening. 

"listen nick.... I'm going to help carrie carry the baby gear. Can you push the stroller we have set up? We want to get out of here as soon as we can before something bad happens...again."

***

Pov: Helping others feels like having cookies but better.... My Robin hood... 

He turned off the water and stood there, just remembering the night they had given shelter to the neighbor while her house was rebuilt.


	4. Rich or poor

"dad, where are we going?" 

His father drove an old and loud car. He called it a classic. Nick called it.... 

Pov: Trouble... 

It over heated a lot. Dad said it was because of the aluminum cylinder heads being warped. 

Pov: Who uses cans in the car engine? 

"listen to that v8 roar! If we where lions, we'd roars like that nicky."

Nick reached out and turned on the stereo. He knew he's dad's cd player better then his dad did. His old man called it alien tech. Nick called it perfect. 

The young fox put in a cd in seconds, the roar of the v8 was drowned out by the familiar cash register of pink Floyd's money. 

"my son prefers my youth over the spirit of adventure." his father said with a laugh. 

They pulled over to an old but curious looking building. It had a cross above the front door. 

His father pulled a table out and filled it with canned food from the trunk of their car. Other people also did the same and from inside the building his dad called a church, came a man in an all black robe. 

"pleasure to see you Robin. I'm glad you could come. But you didn't need to bring much. The church has gotten many donations. That should be plenty to give out." 

As his father and the old lion hugged, his father signaled nick to come over. Nick approached slowly and quickly hid under his father's tale, only peeking with one eye at the old but still dominating force looming over him.

"father, meet my son. This is nick. He usually stays home and helps his mom with the baby but he has graciously chosen to help us today."

The old lion knelt down to Nick's level and nick buried himself deeper in his father's tale. 

"hi nick. It is a pleasure to meet you. Your father has been helping us for many years. Everyone loves him. He's a sort of Robin hood. You know who that is?" 

He slowly revealed himself and looked to his father. Seeing the smile on the fox's face, he turned to the lion and smiled as well. Then excitement took over and he began jumping up and down, clapping his tiny paws at the same time. 

" my daddy is Robin hood! He stops the bad guys and..." 

The old lion put a finger on Nick's lips and nick calmed down. 

"Robin hood does more then that. He helps people who need help. And he does it for his love of people. Not for a prize. He is the greatest hero."

Nick looked at his dad and back at the lion. 

"nick... Helping people makes you feel good. Like having cookies but way better..."

Nick knew what made him feel good. He loved it when he would help and get a treat. 

Pov: What's the treat today? 

"daddy, are we going to save people today? Will we go out for ice scream after? Will you play monopoly with me? Will you...." 

Something attracted nick to the street behind him. People of all species, preditor and prey, where gathering. Some had cubs while some pushed strollers. 

It was the biggest gathering he had ever seen. 

But they all had 1 thing in common. He noticed, each one seamed.... He couldn't put his finger on it but... They all seamed different in some ways from his own neighbors. 

"nick, can you pull out the plastic bags from my car?" 

Nick did as his father asked and helped fill every bag with canned goods of all kids. The prey got all sorts of vegetables and fruit while the predictors got meat alternatives from bugs to fish. 

With each bag he handed out, he was rewarded with a smile and a thank you and he got more excited everytime someone said... 

"just like your father..."

"such a wonderful young man..." 

"such a sweet boy..."

With every passing year, nick grew to love every smile and every word of gratitude as if they where candy but the rewards his father gave him for helping, meant even more to the cub. 

Every weekend, they went to donation morning and then out to lunch, or the park. One day, his father even took little nick to a nearby theme park. 

Since his father was usually busy with work, these post donation hours where the best time nick had with his father. 

When nick was 8, something different happened.... 

"h-h-hi...s-s-sorry, I s-stutter." 

He was 8 when his mother brought his 3 year old sister to help at the donation station and nick had lifted Kari onto the table to help fill bags when a tiger on a wheelchair rolled up to the table. 

Nick kept quiet at the sight of the tiger's missing legs but Kari didn't have self control. She pulled nick close to her and tried to whisper... 

"he has..." 

but to everyone's horror, 

"NO LEGS. HE'S A MONSTER." 

Her whisper was quickly turned loud. 

The tiger laughed and Nick's mom hushed Kari while Robin and nick helped the man out. 

When the donations time was done, nick helped his dad pack up the car when from the corner of his eye, nick noticed the handicapped tiger siting alone in a nearby bench. 

"daddy, he looks lonely. Can I?" 

"how about we both go."

He held his father's paw and both walked up to the solitary tiger. 

"hi!" nick said. "my name is nick wilde. This is my dad, Robin hood! What's your name?!"


	5. Life and death

"my name is Bruno. So your dad is really Robin hood?" he looked at nicks father and smiled. 

"my name is Robin wilde. Wanna come into the church and relax?" 

Nick was intreged by this legless tiger. When they arrived at the church, nick asked, "how did you lose your legs? A fight?" 

Bruno laughed and shook his head no. "I was born with no legs."

Nick recoiled when hearing that. "how can a person be born with no legs?" 

Bruno smiled. 

"well... How are you born with a fluffy tail young man?" 

Nick picked up his tail and starred at it for a bit.

"i just am I guess."

"well, that's how I am. I'm just born with no legs."

Still holding his tail, nick asked, "do you have a family?" 

The tiger's happy face faded a little. 

"my family left this beautiful world long ago, when I was just a cub." 

Every week nick saw Bruno and played board games with him in the church. As time went on, he had come to enjoy being with the handicapped tiger so much, that he even enjoyed helping the tiger off his wheelchair so he could kneel and pray with everyone else. 

His time with Bruno started taking over reward time with his father. The more time he spent hearing stories from Bruno, the more he liked the feeling of helping the tiger or just spending time with him so he wouldn't be alone. 

Month after month, year after year, nick grew and came to help people more and more. His favorite, was helping care for the kits at church while their parents helped at the donation time. 

He even donated his old toys, just to see cubs smile. It really did feel like having cookies... But better. 

I am Robin hood. 

One day, 11 year old nick was sitting outside the church with Bruno. He and Bruno read a book to Kari. It was a story about Robin hood. 

Their mother and father had spent many months making that book for them and nick couldn't wait to share it with Bruno. 

The church window faced a hot and beautiful afternoon sun that brightened the room but also made the book look like it was made of gold. 

"as Robin hood and little John swung their swords, trying to hold back the evil sherif and his guards..." 

Kari screamed and nick looked up from the book to see Bruno had fallen from his wheelchair. 

He tried to help the tiger up but noticed the man was gasping, trying to breath but to no avail. He was too heavy to lift so he gently helped the tiger roll over unto his back. 

" Kari, get dad, hurry!"

" Bruno, are you alright?!"

The tiger looked up and smiled but it was an uneasy smile, filled with pain. 

"nick... My time is up. This body.... Can't... Take... Anymore... Life...." 

He knelt next to the tiger and began to cry. 

"Bruno, you'll be OK. My daddy is coming."

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs. 

"everything will be OK Bruno. I promise."

His dad pushed the door open and rushed next to the tiger. 

"Bruno, Bruno!" 

The tiger was barely breathing now. 

"I'm gonna get help Bruno, hold on. I'll call 911..."

Before Robin could stand, nick noticed Bruno grab his father's paw. 

"it's... Too... Late.... Thank... You... For... The.... Good.... Years...."

He turned to nick and took the boys tiny paw. 

"don't... Worry... About... The end..... It's the.... Journey.... And.... You... Made.... Mine... Worth... Every.... Breath...." 

With that, the tiger stopped breathing. 

"Bruno?!" nick cried but there was no response. 

"Bruno!"

His father wrapped his arms around him and held him close as nick continued to hold the tiger's lifeless paw. 

"daddy, what happened? Did he die?" 

"I'm sorry son. Yes he did. But for the last few years of his life, you where his hero. Without you, he would have died alone. Thanks to you, he was happy."

Nick turned to his father and buried his face in the fox's chest, crying until his father's shirt was wet with his tears. 

" daddy, I couldn't save him. I'm no hero."

He felt his dad pick him up. They walked down to the main lobby of the church and from a distance, nick could hear sirens. 

His father put him down in front of a statue of a Saint. 

"a hero is someone who gives their time for others. That's what you did. You never asked for a reward. A hero makes people feel good. You did that for Bruno. A hero's life is never easy as he can't save everyone but a hero's life is filled with great memories of those he has brought joy to and for those he can't save, he knows he brought them a better life."

Nick studied the statue in front of him. " Saint winter?"

" yes... She was one who walked the winter storms to bring food to the homeless. She died doing what she loved."

It wasn't long after, when nick was 12, that his father was gunned down in a fire fight with a street gang. 

Robin hood had finally met his match. Another soul he failed to save. But nick now understood.... 

I did my best to give dad a good life. To give him a reason to smile, to wake every morning.... To live....


	6. Tragedy Returns Again

Elliana and Connor chased each other around the room with nick trying to get clothes on the naked 4 year old twins. 

Each fox avoided their father, laughing and running around, pretending to be super heros.

"elliana, Connor, it's time to get dressed for bed. That's enough running..." 

Pov Can they even hear me? 

Nobody would have believed these 2 where identical twins if they didn't share the same face, as nothing else about them matched. 

With only night lights illuminating the cub's bedroom, most of the time, the naked cubs where shielded by the near lightless hiding places their bedroom furniture created. 

Where the reach of photons where impossible, even Nick's enhanced fox vision was reduced to guessing which cub he saw, if not for the differences in voices and personalities that gave them away, their love of shadowy places, took away everything that made them different from one another. In the dark, they where truly twins. 

Every time Connor ran near the night lights, nick caught a glimpse of the scars that trailed across the boy's lower body, just short of his waist. They appeared to nick, like little mountain ridges bridging his upper body, to his lower half. 

No fur grew around his scarred abdominal section and no fur would ever grow again. 

Pov All those years trying to keep him alive...if only he'd grow... 

As elliana ran by her brother, nick was reminded just how small the boy was as he barely reached past his twin's lowest rib. 

Elliana had not fared much better as her allergies to sunlight, had left her fur nearly white, making Connor look sunburnt compared to her. 

She appeared as an arctic fox though they where twin red foxes. 

How does she know where to go? How can she run and not hit anything? 

***

Nick and his mother, buried his father in a cemetery near the church. His funeral was kept family and select officers only. 

Kari held nick who tried to remain strong as their father was lowered into the earth. Their mother stood by the resting place of Robin wilde, on her knees in prayer. 

Pov I don't know what to do dad. I can't be Robin hood without the real Robin hood.... I need you dad... 

"nick.... What happens when we die?" 

Nick wasn't sure what to say and just kept looking at the buriel spot. His father was given a traditional Islamic buriel. Though his family was Christian, the prospect of being buried wrapped in white cloth, allowing the body to return to the earth from where it came, seamed oddly poetic to young nick. 

He turned and wrapped his paws around his sister. "we return to the earth Kari. We become part of the world."

"but..."...she tried to hold back the tears, "what happens to our souls?" 

"I.... I.... I don't know Kari. Is there even such a thing as a soul?" 

"daddy said there was."

Nick pushed his little sister away and in frustration, yelled loud enough to surprise even himself. "and where is the soul?! Huh?! Where is dad!? He's dead! He tried to help others and died for his efforts!" 

He watched helplessly as Kari began to cry. Not knowing what to do, he reached out to Kari but she ran. 

"Kari wait!" nick yelled and chased after her. He watched as she disappeared around the church and moments after, heard the loud honk of a car horn. 

Kari.... 

He turned down the path he had seen her go and saw a car speed by. In the driver's seat, was an elephant. He gave nick a dirty look as he went by. 

On the ground, was his little sister. 

Pov I couldn't save dad.... And now I got my sister killed... Dad... I'm sorry. I failed. 

***

Nick finally gathered his cubs and struggled some pajamas on them, even though he knew he'd make this same herculean effort the next night to, and would be better off to just let them tire themselves out and sleep however they wished. 

"daddy..." elliana trailed off and Connor took to finishing her question. "my stomach hurts. Can I have a bite?" 

Letting cubs eat at bedtime was not a habbit nick wanted to give his cubs but.... His cubs where special. 

"sure son." nick smiled. 

"me to?" 

"yes, you to my princess. I'll be back. If your mother is done making our anniversary dinner, I'll let you both have some."

"thanks daddy!" they both squealed with joy as they sat up in their beds. 

Nick left the room and went through the dark hallway that connected to the living room. Further down was the kitchen where Judy was cooking. The lights in the kitchen where dim and to nick, Judy looked like a ghost moving about. 

"hey Jude, if you're done, I'm gonna take some bites to the kids."

She turned around and smiled. The dim lights made her lavender eyes appear to nick, as if her eyes where mirrors reflecting some magical apperition in the house that only he could see. 

She lifted a bowl next to her. "here nick. Give them some of the tortalini in this bowl. They'll love it. I won't tell you what's in it. It's a surprise. And don't you dare ask them."

"yes captain!" nick jokingly saluted her and pretended to hit his head during the salute. He then pretended to lose his balance and fall into the couch. 

"help me honey. I hit my head too hard and will die soon. But before I die, will you please tell me what's the secret in the tortalini?" 

He watched as Judy approached him, lifted him to her face and gave him a slow and passionate kiss. "will that help Mr wilde?" 

Nick felt his legs melt as Judy kissed him. 

"sorry, only the secret to your cooking can save me." 

Judy smirked. "well then Mr Wilde, guess you're doomed. But you better take that to the kids before they do you in as well."

Nick frowned and as he walked through the hallway, his curiosity got the best of him. 

One bite won't hurt until dinner is ready. 

The fork hitting the buttom of the bowl was all Judy needed. "nick! Don't ruin the surprise!" he heard from the kitchen. 

Pov Mom always made the most amazing dishes. Judy.... Your food reminds me of mom...


End file.
